Sarah Palin is currently under investigation for allegedly receiving improper gifts during her tenure as governor of Alaska. This made me wonder ... as we head out shopping for weddings, birthdays, and get-well gifts, how many of us realize what is a proper gift, and what is not? For the purposes of clarification, I put together this handy chart for future reference.
Proper Gift: chocolates
Improper Gift: used cans of motor oil
Proper Gift: nice box of stationery
Improper Gift: dead beetles in a jar
Proper Gift: a DVD
Improper Gift: moldy bologna
Proper Gift: a gift certificate to the recipient's favorite store
Improper Gift: dryer lint
Proper Gift: a green plant
Improper Gift: leeches
Proper Gift: a pretty wall hanging
Improper Gift: fast food restaurant napkins
Proper Gift: wall clock
Improper Gift: toenail fungus medication
It is my hope that we might all become enlightened and learn to tell the difference between a proper gift, and an improper gift, lest our gift-giving someday become suspect as well.
14 comments:
Darn - now I'll have to go out and buy all new Christmas gifts. Just when I thought I had the shopping all finished!
~snort~ You're hilarious, Tristi. Which reminds me to grab the salt because we're headed out to the lake and leeches, alas, are one of the lake's improper gifts sometimes...
Ha, ha! I once did a prank telemarketer call (they called me, and I pranked them), and somehow I was able to get into a discussion about improper gift-giving. The lady insisted that my attempts to give my friend used tires for Christmas was good excuse for them to be less than appreciative for the gift. I argued that they were still good, and worth at least $50 total.
The funniest part of the whole thing was that she totally thought I was being serious.
Unfortunately, I didn't get that one recorded, but I've gotten a few others recorded since then at http://chas.willowrise.com/?cat=472
Anyway, that just reminded me of that. This was a hilarious post! Especially the fast-food restaurant napkins! Ha, HAAA! That would almost be worth getting as a gift just to be able to say you did!
- Chas
ha ha ha! simply hilarious!
Poor Sarah...should be the gift-givers under investigation for giving questionable gifts!
Ahem. Well. I'd like to know where a used, odd dollar amount gift card falls on the gift chart?
I once received one of those from a close family member, and will never stop laughing about that.
Fun list.
Nichole
It might just be me, Nichole, but I think that ranks on the improper side. :)
LOL Nice. I'm trying to think of some terrible gift i've gotten in the past to add to the "not" list, but i suppose at 3am, my brain just doesn't work as well on the recall-thing. Guess that should be a clue to me, eh? GOOD NIGHT!
I have to take exception to the dead beetles in a jar, having once received that from my son.
Also, Nicholes gift card. I mean, free money is free money, even if some of it was used first. :)
How about one of my favorite "gag" gifts? I go out and gather 5 or more gift cards from different stores, but I only put money on one of them. Then I enclose them all in a tasteful card (maybe Garfield or Maxine or something) with a note that says, "One of these cards has $$$ on it. Good luck." So, what do you think, proper or not?
Just got your books in the mail and I can't wait to dig in! Your messages inside are definitely in the appropriate side of gift-giving. Thank you! And as they say, "the check's in the mail."
My grandmother... who I love .. gives the oddest gifts. There are 3 girls in my family. One year both my sisters got a fruit basket for Christmas. Different, but hey, you can eat it.
My gift: A pair of nylons. I hardly ever wear nylons. Strangest gift ever.
One the other hand, one year she gave us some religious books (she's Baptist). They weren't anything we would want to read. We found a bookstore that sold them and got cash back. We got around $15-20 for each them and spent it on something we really wanted. That was strange, yet a nice gift for the money back.
Awww...no toenail fungus?! I had it all wrapped and everything...
My husband's aunt used to cut out crossword puzzles from her newspaper and mail them off to us every so often.
However, if Sarah Palin tries to send me her dryer lint, I know what to do now!
You are hilarious.
LOL!!!! Oh, too funny.
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